Blood absolute monocyte count trends in preterm infants with suspected necrotizing enterocolitis: an adjunct tool for diagnosis?

• Published in: Journal of perinatology 2024-12, Vol.44 (12), p.1768-1773
• Main Authors: Moroze, Meghan, Morphew, Tricia, Sayrs, Lois W., Eghbal, Azam, Holmes, W. Nathan, Shafer, Grant, Mikhael, Michel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/699/1503/1581; 692/700/139/1420; 692/700/1720; Antibiotics; Area Under Curve; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - blood; Birth weight; Blood; Diagnosis; Enterocolitis; Enterocolitis, Necrotizing - blood; Enterocolitis, Necrotizing - diagnosis; Female; Gastrointestinal diseases; Gestational Age; Hospitals; Humans; Illnesses; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Infant, Premature, Diseases - blood; Infant, Premature, Diseases - diagnosis; Infants; Leukocyte Count; Male; Medical diagnosis; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Monocytes; Mortality; Necrotizing enterocolitis; Newborn babies; Pediatric Surgery; Pediatrics; Premature babies; Retrospective Studies; ROC Curve; Sepsis; Trends
• ISSN: 0743-8346; 1476-5543; 1476-5543
• DOI: 10.1038/s41372-024-02070-7

Objective We investigated the trends of blood absolute monocyte count (AMC) over 72 h after suspecting necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Study design A single center, retrospective study, the AMC was plotted over 72 h after NEC evaluation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis assessed change in AMC to identify absence of NEC and different NEC stages. Results In 130 infants, the AMC decreased in patients with NEC stage 2 or 3. Stages 2 and 3 NEC experienced a drop in AMC compared to an increase in no NEC, possible NEC, or positive culture ( p